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| Youth
Communication Timeline 1960 to Present | 1960 | 1970 | 1975 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005| 2006| 2007 | To Return to the Short Version of the Timeline click here. |
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Why
Editorials? During its first decade, NYC includes editorials in virtually every issue. (Why? In large part because adult newspapers do, and we are imitating them.) Over the years, however, we find that writing editorials which express a consensus of the teen staff is often a sterile exercise (topics that everyone agrees upon tend to be banal, like "We need better teachers"). At other times it is simply impossible to reach consensus. Should students wear uniforms? Should there be police in schools? Among our diverse teen staff there are always strong views on both sides of most issues. In the late 1980s, we eliminate editorials as a regular feature of the magazine, bringing them back only when a strongly-felt consensus on a major issue emerges among the teen staff, such as the question of whether to distribute condoms in the high schools (see right).
Inquiring
Minds Want to Know: How Do You Teach Teens to Write Like That? |
1990 to 1991 1990 to 1991 1990 to 1991 |
Major NYC Stories: NYC features cover stories on Responsible Sexuality, Violence and Conflict Resolution, AIDS, the condom distribution controversy in the high schools, teen reaction to the Persian Gulf war, and Youth and the Arts. Teen Pregnancy: The average age of first sexual activity (and teen pregnancy) seems to be dropping during the 1980s. Temple Sherwood dramatically highlights the trend in her story, "Eleven Girls [from my junior high school class] Are Already Moms" (Sept./Oct. 1990). Date Rape: In the early 1990s, the discussion of date rape is widespread, and young women become more willing to talk about the experience, partly to warn their peers. Our story, "A Dream Guy, a Nightmare Experience" (Jan./Feb. 1991), is one of the most powerful teen stories on the topic, and, unfortunately, will be followed over the years by several more such accounts (including, in Sept./Oct. 1991, "My Love, My Friend, My Enemy," a three-part account of one writer's rape, abortion, and gradual recovery, and another gripping story that appears in the Dec. 1999 NYC, "I Said No.") Condoms in School: In a front page editorial agreed upon by the teen staff, NYC calls on the New York City Board of Education to approve free condom distribution in the high schools. The editorial acknowledges two realities: that many teens will not become sexually active, but that far too many others are practicing unsafe sex. In a close vote, the Board approves the plan. Bringing Home War's Reality: In "No Parades for One Bronx Family" (April 1991), NYC writer Sheila Maldonado interviews the family of a New York City high school graduate killed in the Gulf War. Teen Staff Profile: After writing stories on topics ranging from political lobbying by youth, drug abuse in her family, and William Faulkner's Light in August, Dana Vincent goes to Spelman and then pursues graduate studies in economics at The New School for Social Research. In 1995, she is granted a fellowship to study the role of market women in the Caribbean and West Africa. |
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